The Pokémon Company International really wants you to go to Target, and it’ll give you rewards if you do. The company has released the Pokémon Pass app today. It is out for iOS and Android.
If you have the app, you’ll receive exclusive digital rewards from visiting select U.S. Target locations. This includes a shiny Pikachu or Eevee for Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee for Switch. A shiny version of a Pokémon has a different color scheme than normal.
Similar to the Pokémon Go hit game, the app will encourage users to visit real world locations. Of course, Pokémon Pass is much more direct. In Pokémon Go, you visit landmarks to get items that will help you capture more Pokémon in that game. Pass is straight up telling you to go to Target.
This might seem kind of strange, but Pokémon has been doing this sort of thing for decades. When the original Pokémon Red and Blue versions came out in the U.S. for Game Boy, the only way to get the rare creature Mew was by going to select Toys-R-Us locations (RIP).
In the future, Pokémon Pass will support more retailers.